Broward County, Florida

Broward County is a county in Florida, United States, about 25 miles (40 km) north of downtown Miami on the Atlantic coast. It had a population of 1,944,375 at the 2020 census, an estimated 2,013,317 by 2025, and covers 1,203 square miles (3,116 km2) of land centred near 26°11′37″N 80°28′36″W.

Fort Lauderdale is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 33301. The county holds 31 incorporated municipalities — 24 cities, 5 towns and 2 villages — plus a handful of unincorporated pockets, and it runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 12011.

Towns & Villages in Broward County

All 31 places below are separately incorporated; Fort Lauderdale is the county seat. A further seven small unincorporated areas — six census-designated places (CDPs) and one unincorporated parcel — sit outside any city limit and are served directly by the Broward County Municipal Services District. Population figures are 2020 census counts.

Six census-designated places make up most of the county’s remaining unincorporated population, all served by the Broward County Municipal Services District rather than a city government:

Hillsboro Ranches is a small residential parcel of roughly 72 people (2018 county estimate, no 2020 CDP tabulation) wedged between Hillsboro Beach and the Hillsboro Canal — it has no ZIP of its own and mail is routed through neighbouring Hillsboro Beach. Most of Broward’s incorporated cities absorbed their surrounding neighbourhoods during a county-driven annexation push between the 1980s and 2005; West Park, the county’s 31st and newest municipality, was formed in 2005 from several of those formerly unincorporated pockets, including Broadview Park’s neighbour Lake Forest, Miami Gardens (the neighbourhood, not the Miami-Dade city of the same name) and Utopia.

ZIP Codes

• 33301 — Fort Lauderdale (downtown/seat)
• 33020 — Hollywood
• 33028 — Pembroke Pines
• 33025 — Miramar
• 33060 — Pompano Beach
• 33071 — Coral Springs
• 33441 — Deerfield Beach
• 33322 — Sunrise
• 33317 — Plantation (also serves Broadview Park)
• 33314 — Davie
• 33313 — Lauderhill
• 33063 — Margate
• 33073 — Coconut Creek (also serves Hillsboro Pines)
• 33321 — Tamarac
• 33068 — North Lauderdale
• 33311 — Lauderdale Lakes (also serves Boulevard Gardens, Franklin Park, Roosevelt Gardens and Washington Park)
• 33326 — Weston
• 33026 — Cooper City
• 33076 — Parkland
• 33009 — Hallandale Beach and Pembroke Park
• 33334 — Oakland Park
• 33305 — Wilton Manors and Lazy Lake
• 33004 — Dania Beach
• 33330 — Southwest Ranches
• 33023 — West Park
• 33064 — Lighthouse Point
• 33308 — Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Sea Ranch Lakes
• 33062 — Hillsboro Beach

Hillsboro Ranches has no ZIP of its own — it uses Hillsboro Beach’s 33062 — and several of the smallest villages and CDPs above share a ZIP with a larger neighbour rather than carrying a dedicated code.

Geography

Broward sits between the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the Everglades on the west, and only its eastern third — roughly the strip east of U.S. Route 27 — is developed; the rest is Everglades Water Conservation Area, off-limits to settlement. The county has 23 miles of Atlantic beachfront and its largest inland waterway, the New River, runs through downtown Fort Lauderdale to Port Everglades. Canals cut by the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project drain much of the developed area and double as the New River and Intracoastal Waterway’s link to the Everglades conservation areas to the west.

Broward borders Palm Beach County to the north, Miami-Dade County to the south, Collier County across the Everglades to the west, and touches Hendry County at its northwest corner.

Demographics

Broward County had 1,944,375 residents at the 2020 census, Florida’s second-most populous county after Miami-Dade, and an estimated 2,013,317 by 2025. That works out to about 1,616 people per square mile of land, concentrated almost entirely in the developed eastern third of the county. Fort Lauderdale (182,760) and Pembroke Pines (171,178) are the two largest cities, followed by Hollywood (153,067) and Coral Springs (134,394). The county is regularly cited as one of the most ethnically diverse in the country, with substantial White, Black or African American, and Hispanic or Latino populations and large Haitian, Jamaican and Cuban communities concentrated around Lauderdale Lakes, North Lauderdale and Miramar. Median household income is $70,331.

Economy & Local Life

Broward’s economy produced about $162.9 billion in gross domestic product in 2023, Florida’s second-largest county economy after Miami-Dade. Tourism and the marine industry anchor it: Port Everglades is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world and a major cargo port, and Fort Lauderdale markets itself as the “Yachting Capital of the World.” Aviation carriers Spirit Airlines and Silver Airways are headquartered in the county alongside Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport itself, a major employer. Agriculture in the western reaches centres on nurseries, greenhouses and sod rather than row crops. Broward College and Nova Southeastern University are the county’s largest higher-education employers, and Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System run the major hospital networks. The Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, held every October or November, is the county’s single biggest annual event and one of the largest boat shows on Earth.

History

Broward County was created on April 30, 1915, carved out of Palm Beach and Dade counties, after years of lobbying by settlers who found the county seats too far away for routine business. Legislators initially planned to call it Everglades County before renaming it for Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, the governor whose administration pushed Everglades drainage projects that opened the land to farming and settlement. Dania, now Dania Beach, incorporated first in 1904; Pompano Beach followed in 1908 and Fort Lauderdale in 1911, four years before the county itself existed. Rail and road links brought the first tourist hotel to Fort Lauderdale in 1919, and dredged fill created the canal-lined island neighbourhoods that still define the city’s waterfront. Population exploded after the Second World War: the county grew from 83,933 residents in 1950 to 333,946 in 1960, a 298 percent jump, as new suburbs replaced farmland west of the old coastal cities. Hurricane Andrew brushed the county with an estimated $100 million in damage in 1992, and Hurricane Wilma struck far harder in 2005, bringing 80–100 mph winds and knocking out power across most of the county for weeks.

Getting There

Interstate 95 runs the length of the county along the coast, Interstate 75 crosses its western half toward Naples, Interstate 595 links the two through Fort Lauderdale, and Florida’s Turnpike cuts north-south through the interior suburbs.

• Miami — 25 miles south
• West Palm Beach — 45 miles north
• Naples — 100 miles west via I-75
• Orlando — 230 miles north

Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport (FLL), the nation’s 19th-busiest by passenger traffic, sits between Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. Amtrak’s Fort Lauderdale station, on the Silver Service and Palmetto lines, is downtown a few blocks from the New River.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Broward County?
Broward County is on Florida’s southeastern Atlantic coast, between Miami-Dade County to the south and Palm Beach County to the north.

What is Broward County’s population?
1,944,375 at the 2020 census, an estimated 2,013,317 by 2025 — Florida’s second-most populous county.

How big is Broward County?
1,203 square miles (3,116 km2) of land, plus about 120 square miles of water, though only the eastern third is developed — the rest is Everglades conservation land.

What is the county seat of Broward County?
Fort Lauderdale, also the county’s largest city with 182,760 residents.

How many towns and cities are in Broward County?
31 incorporated municipalities — 24 cities, 5 towns and 2 villages — plus seven small unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes are in Broward County?
Roughly 80 ZIP codes in total; 33301 covers downtown Fort Lauderdale, the county seat.

Is Fort Lauderdale the same as Broward County?
No. Fort Lauderdale is one of 31 separate cities inside Broward County — the county is not a consolidated city-county like neighbouring Miami-Dade’s core.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Florida.